Modern Slavery Statement

This statement is made in relation to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that HC-One has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced and compulsory labour all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain. HC-One has a zero tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

Our business

HC-One specialises in Dementia, Nursing, Residential and Specialist care with homes throughout the UK. Each of our Residents and their relatives can trust that the care they will receive will be delivered with kindness, thoughtfulness and respect, in a safe, warm, comfortable and welcoming environment.

HC-One stands for Health and Care – which is what we do – and the One, which symbolises how we do it. At HC-One we focus on the individual, striving to provide the best and kindest possible care, to the one who matters, the Resident, by the one who makes the difference, the individual member of staff.

We are an integrity-driven company founded on the principles of accountability, involvement and partnership with a management team of highly experienced senior health and social care professionals. We want relatives, staff, purchasers and regulators to know that we will listen to each one of you. We are on a journey to provide the kindest possible care and experience for Residents, simply, easily, effectively and efficiently while employing some of Britain's kindest and most professional people.

Our policies

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:

Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out the organisation’s stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.

Recruitment policy. We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.

Whistleblowing policy. We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.

Our suppliers

HC-One operates a supplier process, which ensures that all suppliers perform in line with HC-One terms and conditions, along with maintaining a preferred supplier list. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to become a preferred supplier. Our anti-slavery policy forms part of our contract with all suppliers and they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.

In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that they confirm to us that:

They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business 

They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery 

They pay their employees at least the national minimum wage / national living wage as appropriate 

We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light

Our performance indicators

We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain if:

No reports are received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.

This statement is made pursuant to Section 54 (1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes HC-One Slavery and Human Trafficking statement for the financial year ending 2017/2018.

Approval for this statement

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 21 June 2017.